Misunderstandings and Musings
by Swa-Sa Masou
Summary: Another Letter Story! Just something to put my mind at ease and fix our TommyxKim pairing. Hopefully the characters are close!
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Another letter story. As a fandom, will we ever get over this? Probably not. I don't own Power Rangers and I will never forgive the writers for TommyxKat_**

Tommy sat on the shore, letting the wind whip through his hair, waves crashing against his feet so that his socks were soaking through his shoes. He noticed none of it. He was aware of his own ragged breathing. His vision blurred. He was alone, but he was still fighting crying. Why did people say that it felt like your heart was ripped out when the something happens? It didn't feel like it had been ripped out, it simple wasn't there. Each breath only exacerbated the pain. It was as if his head couldn't comprehend why his body would need to take breath when living didn't have a meaning.

He also knew that this line of thinking was overly dramatic. He had been in literal, life-threatening situations before. He had been put through actual torture at the hands of his enemies more than once. But that was just physical pain, he could always look past it by looking for the solution or the way out. Or by counting on his friends to save him.

His friends couldn't save him from this. Ironically, one of his closest friends had been the one reading the information when it came. Hearing Adam's voice catch and cut off before being advised to finish it himself was the moment he could no longer feel his heart beating, the moment that pushing oxygen in and out of his lungs became painful.

Kim had broken up with him.

In a freaking letter.

She had found someone else.

Kim had the audacity to say that she thought Tommy would really like him.

How could he like anyone that would come between them? He entertained for a moment that it might even be Jason or Zach. Neither had returned from the Peace Summit yet, but were done in Switzerland. They were touring around the world, Florida wouldn't be that big of a leap, but neither of them would do that to him, right?

Then again, he never thought Kim would do this to him either. He knew for damn certain that he would never have done this to her.

He could feel the pain sawing in and out of him. He, masochistically, brought up happy memories of the two of them, joyful, having fun, laughing, dancing, sparring, anything and everything, because they had always been happy. Even their arguments hadn't lasted long and those only brought them closer together, knowing that nothing was going to be pulling them apart.

At least that's what he had always thought.

The sun was setting before he realized how long he had been sitting in one spot. He needed to get home before his parents, or the other rangers, started to look for him. Making his way slowly up the hill to the youth center where he'd left his pick-up, he looked up and noticed Billy leaning against it.

"I thought you must eventually come back for your vehicle, Tommy. I must admit, I almost gave up as it's gotten darker." Billy straightened up and away from the side door he'd been leaning against, waiting. Tommy thought about apologizing for making him wait and worry, but he stopped himself. Billy had known him for years. As long as he himself had known Kimberly. They had an understanding.

Coming to stand face to face, Billy took a deep breath, "I want to ask how you're doing, but I realize the inadequacy of that query. Would you like to talk about it?"

Did he want to talk about it? He hadn't said a word since he had left the youth center earlier. He had mumbled a quick good-bye to his friends and had torn out of the room, barely remembering to grab his outer shirt and wallet on his way. He realized just now that he had forgotten his book bag, but saw it sitting near where Billy's feet had been a moment before beside his pick-up. He smiled slightly. His world may have just come crashing down, but he did still have supportive friends who loved him.

"I don't know, Billy. I just-" he cut himself off. He really didn't know was the thing. He had no idea how he was feeling. He was good at suppressing emotions. He had been doing since his Green Ranger days, suppressing when he felt fear, when he was angry, when he felt despaired, shock that someone might be onto them, joy and a little bit of pride whenever someone bragged about the Power Rangers of Angel Grove. But this was entirely new. He had never been heartbroken before and he didn't know how to handle it.

Billy nodded and held out his hand. They clasped hands and quickly leaned forward to thump each other on the back. It wasn't the most comforting of hugs ever given between friends, but it was their way. None of the Rangers were overly physical with each other. Years of conditioning of having too many bruises, he supposed.

"I have no idea how you must be feeling, Tommy. We're all shocked and we feel bad for you, but none of us actually knows what you're dealing with. We're all still here, though. I may be the one who stayed here to wait for you, but that was just because they all felt like I had known you the longest and I might know what to do the best. That assumption seems to be proven wrong as I haven't the foggiest idea how to help."

"Billy, thank you. I know all of you just want to help. I promise that I'll reach out to you, any of you, if I need to. Right now, I think I just need to go home and be alone. I have a lot of thinking to do."

Tommy climbed into his truck and started it up. He drove home mostly in a daze. He had no desire to explain to his parents where he had been. They generally accepted whatever excuse for who's house he had been at studying, or being at the juice bar, when really, he was working on Ranger problems. He got good grades, his friends were good people with good parents, they had always liked Kimberly, and they never got into any trouble. Even if his parents didn't always buy his story of losing track of time studying, they never really questioned him. He couldn't even think of an excuse now.

The entire drive home, her words from the page kept echoing through his mind. " _I've met someone else. I've met someone else_." She kept saying that it was terrible to be hurting him, but how did she think he felt? How was it going to be for him to have to deal with the fallout from this? He was the one who had to deal with everyone they knew and tell them what happened. She was thousands of miles away, clear from it all.

If she wanted a clean break from her old life, he could almost understand it, but from him? They had never talked about a future of anything but each other. They were always so solid. They didn't need each other, but they wanted each other desperately when they could. When lives didn't hang in the balance, they wanted to be near each other and he knew that someone on the ranger team would always be following his line of thinking about the best way to defeat a monster because she was usually thinking the same thing too.

This, this was all messed up. He was still sitting in the cab of the truck, in his spot on the driveway, stalling going inside.

He knew what he was going to do. There was a phone in Kim's room. He had never called it, he always waited for her to call. She had a super crazy practice schedule, so he always let her initiate the phone calls. That might sound like he was getting lacks in his relationship, but he wrote to her so often and that had been their joint decision about the phone call.

He was going to go in and ask her to explain this better. If the letter was absolutely true, he thought he deserved to at least hear her voice tell him. And if there was any chance that it was a mistake, any chance that she had been coerced or pressured, well, he would be able to tell, right? Their connection was strong enough for that, right?

He got inside, mumbled a greeting that he hoped sounded half-way pleasant but also worn out in a please-just-let-me-go-to-my-room type of way and headed up the stairs. He grabbed for the phone and dialed the number. Just because he wasn't supposed to be the one to call her didn't mean he hadn't _almost_ called her about a thousand times.

At the third ring, he reminded himself of the time difference. If it was 7 here, that meant that it was 10 in her part of Florida and she might already be asleep. Crap. Well, it was too late now.

As he was about to give up on the fifth ring, a sleepy sounding voice that did not belong to Kim picked up, "Hello?" Tommy was frozen for just a second, he had rehearsed parts of what he wanted to say, but he hadn't imagined having to say anything to her roommate before he got Kim on the phone.

He cleared his throat, "Uh, hi, sorry about the call so late, I know you guys train pretty hard and that your sleep is important." His nerves were making him ramble now. "Uh, anyway, is Kim there."

The voice, he couldn't honestly remember the name of Kimberly's roommate at the moment, yawned audibly, but then answered his question, "No, she's not here. She's been rambling about the big surprise date she's had planned, I'm pretty sure she already took off out of town to meet up with her guy. Is that all?"

It struck Tommy as both lucky and unlucky that teenaged girls would just volunteer so much information on so little prompting. He knew that Kim wasn't going to be coming back to the room for quite some time so he shouldn't try to call again, but he also had to hear that she was going on a date. Well, she had broken up with him, so she had that right.

"Yeah, uh, thanks." He pushed the button and shoved the antenna back into the handset in his frustration. He was kind of surprised he didn't break the thing. So, he had his answer. It wasn't a mistake. Backpack, shoes, the jeans he was in, even his bedroom light were all forgotten as he tossed the pillow over his head and tried to sleep for the next 12 hours until he would have to get up and deal with people again.


	2. Chapter 2

Kim bounced with anticipation as she watched California come into her view. All week, she had been barely keeping herself from calling Tommy to let him know that she was coming. She hadn't even responded to his last letter lest she let it slip out. They had a week of free time before their next, ramped up practices according to their coach. He said to make the best of the free time but to be sure not to slack in their individual work outs. They were only a month away from competition and everyone was getting intense, but a week off wasn't something Kim was going to shrug off.

Looking back, she was sure that she had started to annoy her roommate with her talk of the surprise date she had planned. She was humming to herself as she collected her bags and looked around for the rental car agency she had contacted. She had it all planned out. This was going to be such a fun week, assuming that Tommy could avoid and "I have to save the world" incidents.

She hadn't really put much thought into how that would work. This would be her first time being back since giving up her powers and this was going to be really hard to sit back and watch now that she was actually here. Maybe if something came up they would let her hang out at the command center or something. Just some way to let her feel connected.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the woman at the counter handing her a key to a rental car. Her mom was the only one in on this plan as you need to be older than Kim currently was to rent a car. She smiled when she got outside and found the car that her mom had reserved for her- it may not have been the type of car she would normally like, in fact, she wasn't sure what type of car it was except that it was a ford, but it was pink.

She started on the couple hours' drive to Angel Grove, thinking only of surprising Tommy and seeing her friends after far too long away from all of them.

At the Youth Center, Tommy had joined his friends after school, but he looked less than his usual put-together self. He, Rocky, and Tanya were seated while Billy, Kat, and Adam were gathered around the table. The group had been trying to see if Tommy needed anything while he was trying to put on an obviously brave face for them. "I just have to stay busy guys, thanks. A crisis from Zordon would actually be the best thing right now," he said on a chuckle. His friends could tell he was hurting. Tommy couldn't see the door, but Adam could. He noticed the minute a petite, brown haired girl walked into view.

He nudged Rocky who turned around. Turning back to Adam, the both raised their eyebrows. Should they tell Tommy, should they let him notice for himself, would she really come over here? Billy, more perceptive than Tommy, had noticed the silent communication between the two and had also noticed Kim. He made the decision for them. "Tommy, I'm sure I speak for the entire group when I say that we're all devastated for you, but Kimberly just walked in the door. You need to decide what it is that you're going to do. She's likely to notice us at any moment, and, as someone who has been friends with both of you for years, I'll be excited to greet her. Letter or no letter, she's still my friend. I just wanted to give you time to sneak out the back if you want to avoid an awkward situation."

Tommy glanced through the shoulders separating his view from the entrance to the Youth Center and quickly found Kim, scanning the crowd, looking for this group, surely. He nodded to Billy and the rest, gathered up his bag off the floor and slunk out the back door. He had no more than allowed the door to swing shut than Rocky called out, "Kim! Over here!" A huge smile lit the petite brunette's face as she rushed to where the group was sitting.

Kat alone was reserved in her welcoming of Kim. Even Tanya, who hadn't known anything about Kim except for what she had heard first from Aisha and then from the rest of the Rangers was enthusiastic in their introduction to one another. Hugs were passed around as smiles and pleasantries were exchanged. Kat stayed removed for the most part. She was offended on Tommy's behalf for the way that Kim had so callously cast aside their relationship. How could any guy that she had only known a few weeks, months at most, compare to Tommy anyway?

Nevertheless, she didn't want to be obvious in her distaste, or to be rude, so she did go over to where the group had migrated to and offered Kim a bright hello with a big smile.

Kim was overjoyed to see all of them and was excited to pass around greetings and hugs. But she was most anxious to see Tommy. His absence struck her as odd when the rest of the rangers were in the room. She voiced her bemusement. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see everyone, but um, where's Tommy, I've been dying to see him!" The group fell suspiciously silent. What was going on?

Adam was the first to break the awkward silence. "Not to be rude, Kim, but I'm not sure he actually wants to see you right now. Maybe he could handle it eventually, but, just not now."

Now Kim was really confused. Tanya put her arm around Kim's shoulders and led them all back to the recently vacated table. She tried to steer the conversation in the direction of the upcoming pan-global games, but Kim was too upset by Adam's previous statement. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but what did Adam mean by 'he could handle it eventually'? Why wouldn't Tommy want to see me? It's been like, three months of nothing but phone calls and letters." Kim tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked straight at Billy's eyes. The two could never keep a secret from each other. However, it looked like that had changed, as Billy withdrew from the table and leaned back to cross his arms over his chest, determinedly looking anywhere but at her.

Kat sat down across from Kim and had had enough of her innocent act. Sure, they had been friends, but Kim couldn't just expect it to all go back to normal with one visit after she had broken his heart. She was willing to lay it all out for her predecessor. "Do you realize what your last letter did to him? He's barely eaten today, he looks like he didn't even shower or brush his hair before school today. He's only spoken to any of us because of point-blank questions and even then, he's only answering so that we won't worry about him, even though we all do."

The confusion on Kim's face increased ten times. "Kat, I have no idea what you're talking about. My last letter to him was over a week ago and it certainly didn't have anything in it to make him upset with me. What's going on?" Silence hung over the teens again, but this time it was Kat who was confused and speechless.

Adam pulled out a chair and swung it around to rest his arms on the back of it. "Kim, I was the one who was reading the letter to him yesterday. I started reading where you broke up with him. It was definitely one of the most awkward moments of all of our lives to witness your break up, through a letter, no less."

Kim smoothed her hair and sat up straight, looking each of her friends in the eye. "Okay, let me repeat this for you guys again." She gestured aggressively toward herself, "I have not written a letter back to Tommy since his last reply to me because I knew I was coming here and would see him in person." She moved her hand in a circle to gesture at all of them, "I have no idea what you are talking about, because I would _never_ break up with Tommy, especially not in a letter. I love him. I came all of this way to see you guys too, but really, I have this big date planned for our anniversary and everything."

The group all exchanged glances until Kat spoke up, "Okay, Kim, I have no idea what's going on here, but it smells fishy. I think you had better go find Tommy and see if you guys can work anything out. And anything this big might be connected to our other problems right now, so we'll all head there and see if we can find anything out."

Kim smiled brightly again and gave her Ranger replacement a hug, "Thanks for believing me, girl. Any idea where he might be?"

Billy responded, "Well, he snuck out the back door of the Youth Center when he saw you, he probably went somewhere in the park. I can go with you to help him look if you would prefer."

Kim stood, "No, Kat's right. You guys go to see if you can find any _other_ fingerprints on this mess, I have a pretty good idea where he is."

Kim pushed the door open and set off to the beach at the edge of the lake, where she was certain she would find a very sullen red ranger, to see if she could brighten his day and get this figured out.

She found him right where she thought he would be: on a rock overlooking the lake in the park. It was where they had first kissed. It was where he always came to think. She walked quietly up to him. She knew she should say something quickly. He thought they were broken up after all, but after months of phone calls and letters, she was struck by his physique. The way the muscles in his back rippled as he picked at the tall grass around him, the way his biceps were so defined in his tight, short sleeved red tee... She couldn't afford to stare too long.

"Hey, Handsome." She said it with a smile on her face and in her voice, but his form stiffened.

"Kim, I don't want to be rude, but please. I can't do this. Please just go back to the Youth Center. You came here to see friends and I don't want to get in the way of that, but I can't" he paused, he threw down the piece of grass he'd been picking at, he rubbed a hand down his face, "I can't do this."

Walking around the bush he had seated himself next to, she quickly sat down beside him, ignoring his request. "Thomas Oliver, look at me." He did, and her heart broke. He had been crying, or trying not to at the very least; his eyes were rimmed in red. "I did not write a letter breaking up with you." She could have tried to be more delicate about it, but with how hurt he looked, she needed to cut to the point right away.

He looked taken aback. "You," he stopped speaking, he tried to start again, he stumbled over his words. The next coherent word was, "what?"

Leaning forward, Kim grasped at the back of his neck. She threaded her fingers through the silky hair there. Kat had been right, it did feel as though it hadn't been washed or brushed recently, but she could understand that. If he had written a letter to her breaking up with her, she probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed, let alone taken the basic grooming steps she usually did.

Locking eyes with the man she hoped was still her boyfriend, she passionately stated, "Tommy, I love you. The guys at the Youth Center told me about some letter that you got where I broke up with you? I never wrote that. I swear to you, Tommy. Wherever those words came from, it wasn't me."

"Kim." Tommy only got out the one word before he had sat up, grasped for her face gently between his strong hands and crashed their lips together. Now this is what Kim had been picturing for the first moment she saw him this trip. All this drama was definitely not in her plans, but this moment, this perfect, intense, passionate moment- yeah, she'd take that.

Abruptly, Tommy pulled away, ripping Kim out of the bliss she'd been experiencing. "Tommy?" Why would he stop kissing her? Why would he pull away?

He looked pained as he stared back at her. He swiped at his lips, still reeling from their embrace. "Kim, I want to keep kissing you. I've missed you so, so much. But I've had about 24 hours to think about your letter," at that Kim looked like she was about to interrupt him to correct him, "er- the letter I thought was from you. I had all this time to think about what we've been doing, how distracting this distance has been for both of us, and how hard it's been. I just think that we should think about it."

Tears shone in Kim's eyes as his words registered. Scratch that, they weren't registering, they were bouncing around her skull, not sinking in. "Think about…" she said under her breath. That wasn't making any sense.

Despite seeing the pained look gracing Kim's features, Tommy continued, "I love you. I can keep up with my school work and my Ranger duties with you so far away. I'm not worried about me. As I sat there, many times today, re-reading the words in that letter, I realized how distracting I might be as a cross-continent boyfriend. I don't want to do that to you, Beautiful."

The world was spinning. The ground flew up at her from behind as she landed hard on her rear from the kneeling position he had pulled her into. It was jarring and pulled the words out of her, "you want to break up? Now? After I just told you I didn't write that?"

Reaching for her hand, unable to stop himself from offering physical comfort despite his words, he pulled her to his side and sunk a hand into her caramel-colored hair. "Oh Kim, I don't want to break up. I've never wanted that and I will never want that." He paused again, unsure if he would be able to get the words out. "I'm just saying that while the wound is already open for me, if you want an escape route, this is it. If you've been questioning us because you're so far away and it's hard or distracting, or" He took a deep shuddering breath, unable to suggest that she may have met a guy in Florida, he finished, somewhat lamely with "anything, now is the time to let me know."

Leaning into his shoulder and throwing her arm around the opposite one to hook behind his neck, Kim forcefully responded, "I've never had that thought. I've never wanted to be without you." She sniffled. "All I want is you. I want to finish training, compete, and to come back to you."

Rubbing a hand up and down her arm, elbow to shoulder, Tommy tried to offer relief without acceding. "Don't decide just yet. We can fully decide where we stand when you get ready to go back. Just take the time to think about it." It was his turn to sniffle, unable to believe he was actually suggesting this to her. He wanted to be with her more than anything. Almost anything. Her happiness would always come before his own.

Sensing that he wasn't going to let this go, Kim backed away and wiped at her eyes, making sure that no tears were still present on her face. "Fine, I'll think about it. But at any rate, we need to figure out who did write this letter and why. If I didn't write it, and I didn't, then isn't it possible that it's part of some convoluted plot by, whatever cosmic evil is trying to hurt the planet? Let me see the letter." She held out her hand expectantly while Tommy reached for his wallet to take out a paper that, although it had only been out of its envelope for a day, looked worn from how many times he had read it.

Reaching for the piece of paper, Kim's heart was beating fast already, her mouth was dry from what Tommy had been saying. She rationalized with herself that following his request to think about their relationship couldn't do any more harm and that she would just tell him later today or tomorrow that she had thought and decided she still wanted to be with him. She always would.

This letter, on the other hand, was an actual problem. Was it a ploy from the Machine Empire? It sure seemed like something that Prince Sprocket would do. She read the words that she has supposedly written. Her eyes stung as they skimmed down the page. She got to the end, not knowing what to say. She re-read the worst part out loud. "'I feel like I've found the person I belong with.' Oh Tommy!" she covered her mouth with her hand, unable to imagine him reading these words. Adam had said that he was reading the letter at first. Where had he stopped? Had the entire group heard these words they thought she had written? No wonder Kat had been so cold to her. She would have reacted the same in that position. She imagined him reading these words over and over, as evidenced by the worn-in creases. It broke her heart to imagine the pain this must have put him through in the last day.

Looking up from the page, she saw that Tommy seemed to have left the here and now and was spacing off looking at the lake. She could understand him not wanting to hear those words again, particularly with her giving voice to them. She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze until he came back to her, mentally. "Tommy, I didn't write this. I swear to you. I have no idea who did, but they didn't get the idea from me." She pulled their interlocked hands up and over her head to position his arm around her shoulders.

She saw him smile and then settled into the crook the open space left for her. He pulled her closer to his side and kissed the top of her head. "I believe you, Kim. It just, it hurt a lot. I can't describe all the thoughts that have gone through my head since I read these words that I thought were from you."

Spinning out of his grasp and standing in one fluid motion, a feat that Tommy would never be able to replicate, she held out her hands to offer him assistance in standing. "Come on, Handsome, the rest of the group is already at the Command Center trying to figure out if they can find any traces of the Machine Empire in this. Besides, I'm dying to see Zordon, Alpha, and the new Command Center!" The smile on her face was infections and did wonders to drive out the lingering pain he still felt in his chest, both from the letter and from what he has asked Kim to consider. He accepted her outstretched hands and then wrapped her back up in his arms before pressing the button on his communicator to teleport them together.


	3. Chapter 3

Upon landing at the Command Center, Kim quickly stepped away from Tommy. She was torn between showing him as much affection as possible to prove to him that she wanted this relationship as much as she always had and giving him space so that he could tell what he truly wanted. She had never had reason to doubt him before, but, as he said, he'd had a day without her, thinking that she didn't love him, to let his thoughts run wild about that life and what it would be like.

Kat and Billy both looked up as the flash of red light illuminated the Command Center more than the array of lights and alarms usually did, thus they both saw the hasty departure from the comfortable embrace the two had been sharing.

"Zordon!" Kim rushed up to her former mentor and the man she had once claimed was like a father to her and to her friends. "I've missed seeing that comforting face!" The beaming smile mixed with a few tears for the peppy former pink Ranger. She truly was happy to be back here, but this wasn't the Center she had spent years in. She knew this, of course. Tommy had told her everything, but it still felt foreign. A robotic creature came rustling forward, "Alpha!" Kim rushed to the smaller, shiny figure and leaned down to give him a hug.

Alpha cried out a similar greeting followed by his trademark, "ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!" The reunion, though Alpha had no face to properly display his emotions, was so happy that even Tanya, who didn't really know Kim, had to smile at the interaction.

Still wearing a smile from seeing Kim so happy, Tommy stepped up in front of Zordon's glass confinement. "So, what do you have? Do you know anything?"

The floating head, that could be disconcerting to those who weren't yet used to him, responded in his booming voice, "No, Tommy. We have not. We need the letter that you carry with you in order for Alpha to run any tests about the identity of the true sender. Although, I must remind you, it is possible that this was a cruel joke played by someone is not your mortal enemy as Rangers."

Billy stepped forward, "We figured it was best to let the two of you talk until you decided to show up here on your own. We didn't know what we would be interrupting." He held out his hand, "Now if you wouldn't mind giving me the letter, please, I can run some tests for fingerprints, or any other tell-tale signs that this has been handled by someone other than you two and Adam."

Digging in his back pocket where he had hastily stashed the letter, Tommy handed it over. He was slightly embarrassed at the amount of wear on it after only 24 hours and how that showed that he had read it many, many times, but Billy was polite enough not to mention anything.

The group of teenagers, robotic assistant, and mentor stood and bounced around theories while the machines did their work until finally, a familiar alarm began to blare just as a computer chimed that the tests had yielded something of note.

All turned to the viewing device in the corner except for Billy, who went to check on his results. A monster, clearly of the Machine Empire's creation had begun to terrorize unsuspecting citizens in the park. Its hideous visage sent families fleeing. You would think that most citizens of Angel Grove would be used to the idea that if they were going for a picnic in the park, they might have to evacuate.

Zordon's voice rang out clear for everyone in the room to hear, "Behold! Their newest creation meant to bring you and Angel Grove to its knees. This monster holds the power to freeze anything it touches with its hands. As you fight it, you must be careful that you avoid the blue glow on his fingertips or you too may succumb to his power."

Billy interrupted just before any of his companions could call out that it was morphin' time! so that he could share his news. "My findings show that before Kimberly's fingerprints from this afternoon, she had never touched this letter, however, there was a polymer found on certain spots of it that would indicate some type of machine/living being hybrid was touching the paper. I think that clinches it. Someone was trying to target you, Tommy. They wanted to throw off your focus by breaking up you and Kimberly so that you wouldn't be able to fight as well."

Rocky looked almost as angry as Tommy and Kimberly at this news. "They've got another thing coming if they think they can get away with this! It's Morphin' Time!"

Kim stood back with Billy while she watched the new movements required to morph with these Zeo Powers. She hadn't had much opportunity to see them yet. She barely bit back a laugh in relief that she had only to do one simple movement to morph with both sets of her powers, however she hoped that calling for Zords still called for similar theatrics.

The five left in their signature streaks of color and Kim shielded her eyes. Had she really never noticed how bright and annoying these lights were? Looking to Billy, who also wasn't an active ranger anymore, she asked, "how do you do it? How do you sit here and watch without going crazy?"

Adjusting his glasses, Billy closed the distance between the two and offered his arms for a hug. She took it and heard his reply, "I trust in our friends and I trust that the power will protect them." She smirked at the old lesson she had learned so long ago and then turned to watch the fighting unfold.

She saw the morphed rangers land and take up defensive positions around the creature. Its taunting voice rang out, "What took you so long rangers? Is someone's heart a little _cold_ after receiving a certain letter? Did you feel like time just _froze_ as you read it? HAHAHA!"

Hauling herself up on some empty counter space, Kim had to remind herself that the comebacks and taunts of monsters had always been dumb, but had they been _this_ dumb? If the rangers hadn't already figured out there was something fishy with the letter, wouldn't these jabs have made it pretty clear to all of them?

It was stressful. How did Zordon and Alpha, or even Billy stand here and watch all of this and stay sane? Each dodge, each kick landed, each near-miss with the monster's fingertips made Kim's own breath freeze within her.

Then the unthinkable happened: Rocky was right in the monster's path and Tommy came out of nowhere to push the blue ranger from harm's path, meaning that he was struck with the full force. He began to stagger and stumble, his movements becoming slower and slower.

Kim whirled around to look at Zordon, "You have to send me there! I can't just watch as he freezes. Please, please, teleport me there."

A comforting hand was placed on her shoulder. "Kimberly, you wouldn't do any good. The other rangers will figure it out, they always do. If you were there, you would just be in more danger and you Tommy wouldn't want that. You don't have your powers anymore to protect you. Tommy will be fine once they defeat this Monster and get back here."

Panicked and terrified, Kim looked between the two of them. "I don't care. Please, Zordon, please, send me there, I can get him out of the way and to safety. I'll stay out of the action and just make sure he stays safe. I can't just watch!" She pulled at her hair and paced. Why couldn't they see that she needed to be there? A small part of her was admonishing this freak-out. She had been a ranger before him. He had to leave when his power coin was given to Jason. He knew this side of it and always trusted her to get herself out of harmful situations. He trusted in the team and in the power.

Annoyingly calm, Zordon's voice broke through. "Kimberly, I know all too well the stress of the situation. But you know as well as I that Tommy is an extremely accomplished ranger and his team will see to his safety. Billy is correct. The power is protecting him. He will merely move extremely slowly until the monster is defeated. If you were to fall into the clutches of the monster, it would freeze your heart and bloodstream as you have no powers."

Swiveling her view back to the viewing globe, she continued to watch the scene unfold. The rest of the rangers had just called for the Zeo power cannon. They would need Tommy's Zeo V power, right? They were preparing to power up the cannon, none of them noticed that the monster was advancing on Tommy's sluggish form.

Suddenly, Kim felt the once-familiar tug of teleportation. She was in the park, next to Tommy. Tommy!" She reached for his hands and began to drag him farther away.

"How did you get here? What are you doing? It's too dangerous!" Of course her safety was his biggest concern, never mind that he could have been captured and taken back to be used as a hostage.

Before Kim had time to respond, Kat called to her, "Kim, we need Tommy's charge! Toss it here!"

Looking back to Tommy, who was struggling to move his arm in the direction of his belt, she followed the trajectory of the movement and found the small canister attached to it and threw with everything she had in her. With a blinding flash, the Monster let out a final scream. Kim curled her body around Tommy's to shield his eyes and head from the blast since he would be unable to move out of the way. When she felt his arms tighten around her, she looked up. Zordon was right, he was fine as soon as the Monster was destroyed.

The rest of the rangers hurried over to them. Adam offered a hand to help each of them to their feet, "You guys all right? Kim, how did you teleport here in a streak of pink?" The other rangers offered similar questions.

Looking among all of the morphed rangers, Kim was unable to see their eyes to read their expressions, but she knew that hers was confused, "I came in pink? I figured Zordon must have given in to my begging and sent me here. But then I would have come in a neutral light, not pink."

Holding out a hand to her, Tommy suggested that they all head back to the Command Center and figure it out. Unsure of how she had teleported to the park in the first place, Kim took his hand and allowed him to teleport her along with himself.

Landing safely back in the main viewing area, the entire group, including Billy and Alpha turned to Zordon hoping for an explanation.

"Welcome back, Rangers, and congratulations on eradicating another evil that was going to be unleased upon Angel Grove and the earth beyond that."

Tanya was the one to step up and give voice to the question they all wanted to know. Kat was hanging at the back of the group, looking uneasy once she had removed her helmet. "Zordon, why was Kimberly able to teleport to the park on her own? And if it was pink, what does that mean for Kat's powers?" The implication was not lost on anyone in the room. Tanya had only ever known Kat as the pink ranger and would like to keep things as they are.

The last thing Kimberly wanted was to sow discord amongst the team and was quick to jump in. "I gave my powers up willingly to Kat. I still have things I have to do outside of Angel Grove. I can't have my powers back, and even if I could, I wouldn't take that away from Katherine."

Beaming at the sense of honor Kimberly was displaying, Zordon addressed them, "Admirable sentiments, Kimberly. But they are unnecessary. Katherine is still Pink Zeo Ranger I. Kimberly never possessed those powers and so could not have taken them without Katherine willingly giving them up, similar to what Kimberly did when she transferred her Ninjetti Powers. However, it has long been my theory that those of you who received your Ninjetti Powers on Phaedos are the only ones who could rightfully posses them. Kimberly was given the Crane's powers because of her agility and grace- characteristics specific to her soul. She transferred the powers to Katherine, but it remained forever a part of her. When Katherine accepted the Zeo powers, some vestiges of the Ninjetti powers reverted back to Kimberly. It is my belief now that the Crane and its powers felt such a strong calling to the Falcon and responded.

The rangers' reactions to this news ranged from placated to elated, particularly as Kim and Tommy drew comfort from this news. Tommy asked if the two could take their leave of the group as everyone else was debriefed from the mission. Kim wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he teleported them back to the lake.

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Kim wasn't sure where to start their conversation. He had asked that she think about their relationship. That she be sure it's what she really wants. They had just received supernatural confirmation that he soul was calling out to his enough to bring forth long-dormant powers to literally transport her across time and space for him. Turning to look at him, she drank in his appearance. He had been well-muscled in early high school when he first transferred, but the years of ranger training had developed his body into quite the sight. His eyes were in gazing at her full of love.

"Kim, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was trying to protect myself from feeling like that again. If we worked through that letter issue and then you ended up breaking up with me a few weeks, or even months later- I'm not sure what I would do. I don't ever want to feel like that again. But in the park back there, when you appeared in front of me, my first thought was that I didn't want you in danger, but that was stupid, even without powers you can protect yourself. My next thought was how much I love you and how I felt that you were there to save me, without a second thought for yourself. We've always been like that. We're so in sync and so ready to anything for each other. Even if we for some reason end up not working out, however much time I get with you is worth it to me." He reached for her hands and intertwined their fingers.

For her part, Kimberly was beaming. She stepped closer to push their bodies flush against each other and craned her head back to be able to look up into his eyes. "Tommy, truthfully, I did think about it. I thought about how you've been my rock during this whole training experience. I thought about how ever time I wanted to give up and come running back here, you were my inspiration to keep going. I thought about how badly I don't want to lose you in my life. I, panic-stricken, thought about how I couldn't lose you to a monster and your ranger duties. Yeah, it's been hard to be away from you, but I wouldn't trade it for a single life at all. I love you so much, Tommy Oliver."

He leaned down to kiss her and then pulled her close. "I can't believe that 24 hours ago, I thought that you didn't love me. I'm so, so happy that you were coming out here to see me so that we could get this cleared up, Beautiful."

Smiling against him, Kim tightened her grip. "I never want you to feel that way again, Tommy. I'm going to compete in this competition, but then I'm coming back here. We'll figure out where we go from high school together." Pulling back, she fixed him with a smile and added on a chuckle, "For a couple of kids how have saved the world multiple times over, we should be able to figure out college, right?"

Laughing lightly as well, Tommy turned the two of them toward the setting sun and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sounds like a plan to me, Kim. We'll figure this out and we'll figure this all out together."


End file.
